Sony never considered always-online for PS4 because of crappy internet

Always-online is definitely a hot topic with gamers. It's the main hang-up on next-gen consoles. Sony has already said that the PlayStation 4 would not have an always-online requirement. President of Sony Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida has already said back when the PS4 was revealed that "oh yes, yes, you can go offline totally [...] you can play offline, but you may want to keep it connected."

Maybe people needed further clarification on the matter. So when GameInformer magazine (read by Gaming Everything) asked Yoshida about the matter, he said, "Did we consider it? No, we didn't consider it." The reason?

Crappy internet. Lack of robust internet connections.

Shuhei said, "The main reason being that many countries don't have robust internet connections. It makes sense for people to have internet connections to play online games, but for offline games there are many countries that we saw do not really have robust internet."

Sony gets it, but does Microsoft? There was an internal Microsoft document that revealed the next Xbox won't require internet connection for single-player games, among other features. I can't imagine robust internet connections mattering for Microsoft though, considering their consoles don't sell that well outside of the U.S. anyway. I guess we'll find out May 21, when Microsoft is unveiling their new Xbox.

You can follow Senior Editor Lance Liebl on Twitter @Lance_GZ. He likes talking sports, video games, movies, and the stupidity of celebrities. Email at LLiebl@GameZone.com